by Malcolm Butler
In a game that saw very little tricks, there were plenty of treats for Louisiana Tech fans as the Bulldogs dominated Sam Houston State 55-14 on Halloween Homecoming Hall of Fame Weekend victory.
“I’m excited about how our football team played tonight,” said head coach Sonny Cumbie. “I think that the guys have continued to progressively get better each week that we’ve been out. I think tonight was really an accumulation of that. I thought we played our best first quarter all season, and possibly the best first half we’ve played this season.”
Clay Thevenin and Omiri Wiggins each rushed for over 100 yards as Tech (5-3, 3-2) amassed 425 yards rushing, the third most in program history.
Thevenin totaled 136 yards and three touchdowns on just 11 carries while Wiggins added 136 yards and one score on 14 totes in a game Tech averaged almost 11.0 yards per carry.
“When you rush the ball like we were able to do it tonight, especially with a really good plan … our players made that happen tonight,” said Cumbie. “Obviously our backs ran extremely well. Receivers blocked well down field. I was just proud of how we were able to move the football.”
Tech totaled a season-high 646 yards of offense as Blake Baker completed 17-of-21 passes for 221 yards and one score.
Despite surrendering over 500 yards of total offense, the Tech defense continued its trend of finding the endzone as Jacob Fields returned an interception 85 yards for a score in the fourth quarter. It marks the sixth defensive TD of the season for the Bulldog unit which leads the country.
“Before the pick, I messed up on a couple of plays and both (Coach Olsen and Kenyatta McNeese) came and talked to me and lifted me up,” said Fields. “I knew I was going to have to make a play after that. Then, I performed my job and executed and after that I just took off.”
The Bulldogs wasted little time in taking the lead, marching 74 yards on seven plays on their opening possession to take a 7-0 lead on a 36-yard scoring pass from Baker to Devin Gandy.
Thevenin upped the advantage to 14-0 on a six-yard scoring run with just over six minutes to play in the first quarter, capping a 58-yard drive on five plays. The highlight of the drive was a 37-yard run by Wiggins.
Tech struck again early in the second quarter. This time Thevenin took a handoff and raced 50 yards to paydirt for a 21-0 lead. Baker added a one-yard run with 6:44 to play before the half and the route was on in Ruston.
Wiggins and Thevenin added scores in the third quarter. Wiggins scored from 16 yards away, capping an eight-play, 77-yard drive that saw the Tech running back total 44 yards on the ground. Baker also hit Eli Finley on a 23-yard gain on the drive.
Thevenin followed with another rushing TD and the lead was 41-7.
“Give credit to the offensive line, of course,” said Thevenin. “It’s just a testament of the hard work we’ve been putting in. We came up short the last two games and we wanted to make a statement on the ground, for sure, and we came out tonight and did that.”
Sam Houston State added a pair of second half TDs on long runs by Elijah Green.
Tech returns to action Nov. 8 when the Bulldogs travel to face Delaware.
